You have recently moved into a new house and renovated it as per your liking. You have a good looking garden now, a rooftop that shines brilliantly in the sun and a welcoming door sign for your guests. You have taken enough care to set right the fencing and even your attic is nice and clean. But can you say the same about your crawl spaces?

Those dark and dingy places in your house are not really something anybody likes to go to regularly. This is exactly why you need to ensure that the area is well protected and well maintained, so that even if you do not visit it for long, not much would have changed. Here are a few tips from a waterproofing firm from Arlington.

The terrain around the house

Before you even start water proofing the house, you must look at the terrain around the house and look for any signs that could lead to water logging in the first place. While working on the house, you must ensure that the terrain, under no circumstances, is responsible for water being flooded towards the foundation of the house and the crawl spaces. Along with the terrain, you must also look at drainage pipes, rain water gutters, etc. to ensure that water logging is avoided at all times.

Drainage system

While everybody tries to work hard to get the drainage system sorted for the house, a little attention needs to be paid for work out a drainage system for the crawl spaces as well. Like we mentioned before, the drainage system of the house should work to prevent water from entering the crawl spaces whereas an internal drainage system in the crawl space will help you flush out the water quickly, rather than having to deal with an unwanted and dirty swimming pool from time to time.

Waterproof the crawl space

Once you have ensured that the crawl space is free from any in house drainage issues, you can proceed to waterproofing the space with plastic liners. While drainage systems will ensure that water does not enter the crawl spaces, the waterproofing will also ensure that water vapour in not entering the crawl spaces as well.

Vapour inside crawled spaces can cool down in winter leading to damp spots that become starting points for moulds and other infestations to come up. Such infestations can then lead to weakening of the wood inside crawl spaces, which leads to weakening of the building structure.

Dehumidifier

In case, your state law prohibits you from sealing the crawl space completely, you must consider installing a dehumidifier to keep the air in the crawl space dry at all times. This is also important if your house is in a humid area and the air is bound to be humid. Like we said earlier, pests like moist and humid conditions and will take every opportunity to grow in such areas.

Sump pump

As an emergency backup, install a sump pump in the crawl space to ensure that in the unfortunate event that water starts logging into your crawl space, you can quickly remove it, till a repair can be arranged. If your area is prone to flooding, then you must definitely invest in a sump pump that will also work in case of a power outage, since you do not want your crawl space to be filled with water for very long.

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